Vegan Sweet Potato Cake With Maple Cashew Icing

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This vegan sweet potato cake recipe is full of fall flavors such as cinnamon, ginger, as well as raisins, and walnuts.  Rich and moist, the cherry on top is the decadent maple and cashew icing. 

Slice taken out of sweet potato cake.

I’ve shared quite a few fantastic sweet potato desserts over the years, like my sweet potato casserole and sweet potato creme brulee.  I love me some good sweet potato!  And when my niece who is vegan was coming over I wanted to make her a spectacular treat so found this recipe for a Sweet Potato Bundt cake and I changed a couple things around to make it vegan.  Wasn’t sure how it would turn out but now it’s one of my favorites. With hints of cinnamon and ginger, it’s the perfect cake to bake this fall. Move aside, carrot cake! I make this into a bundt cake and it’s overflowing with deliciously rich ingredients i.e. sweet potato, raisins, and walnuts. Adding in applesauce ensures the cake remains nice and moist too. 

But my FAVORITE part hands down is the maple and cashew icing. Sweet and nutty, it’s the perfect accompaniment for this sweet potato cake. You will want to reach for a slice of this bundt cake for breakfast, snack, or dessert – it’s just that good!

Ingredients for vegan sweet potato cake

If that wasn’t enough to entice you to bake this eggless sweet potato cake recipe, let me tell you that it’s so easy to make and a must for beginner bakers. Yep, it only takes 15 minutes to prep! As mentioned, it’s also vegan and can easily be converted into a gluten-free cake. Let’s get baking!

Recipe Ingredients

  • 1 cup sugar (I used light brown sugar but any sugar works, including coconut sugar)
  • 1 cup mashed sweet potato puree (cold or room temp)
  • A tablespoon of butter (vegan butter or dairy)
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1/4 cup apple sauce
  • 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2/3 cup raisins
  • 1/3 cup walnuts (crushed)

Maple Cashew Icing

  • 1 cup cashews (soaked in water for 2 hours)
  • 2/3 cup maple syrup
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch (optional)*

Beating the sweet potato and other ingredients.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Using a large mixing bowl, beat the sweet potato puree, sugar, butter, water, and applesauce.

Dry ingredients in mixing bowl.

In a separate medium mixing bowl add the dry ingredients: flour, spices, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Mix well.

Mixing wet and dry ingredients together.

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the sweet potato mixture and mix thoroughly. 

Mix walnuts and raisins into batter.

Combine the crushed walnuts and raisins and mix throughout the batter.

Cake batter in Bundt pan.

Pour the cake batter into a lightly greased fluted tube pan.

Baked sweet potato cake.

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 45-50 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. 

Ingredients for maple/cashew frosting.

To make the cashew maple frosting, drain the soaked cashews and add them to a food processor, blender, or stick blender container. Add the maple syrup and vanilla and blend until smooth. If the frosting is too thick you can add more maple syrup or your favorite milk of choice. 

*The 1 tablespoon of cornstarch is an option if you want a thicker frosting. Simply combine the cornstarch to the cashew maple frosting and place in a pan on low heat stirring often to heat but not boil or burn the frosting but to just activate the corn starch for thickening purposes as well as adding volume and consistency.

Sweet potato cake with icing running down sides.

Once the cake has cooled and been removed from the pan, place frosting in a container with a pouring spout and pour over the cake top and let it run down the sides.

Fork of vegan sweet potato cake

Serve and enjoy your vegan sweet potato cake!

This recipe is inspired by tasteofhome.com.

Storage

Store the cake in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Recipe Notes

  • For the frosting, soak the cashews ideally for at least 2 hours.
  • If you’d prefer, you can substitute the raisins for chocolate chips (vegan, dark, or milk chocolate) to make a delicious sweet potato chocolate cake. 

Slice taken out of sweet potato cake.

Recipe FAQs

Can I make this sweet potato cake gluten-free?

Yes, you can use 1:1 gluten-free flour.

I want a bigger/taller cake, can I add more ingredients?

Yes, just keep the same ratio of ingredients and you can 1.5x or 2x.

Can I use something besides walnuts?

Yes, pecans work just as well.

Can I use an egg in this recipe?

You can. Simply take out the apple sauce and use 1 egg instead. It may change the consistency slightly as the apple sauce provides some moisture.

If you’re in a baking mood, check out these other delicious cakes:

Yellow Cake with Old-Fashioned Peanut Butter Icing

Texas Turtle Sheet Cake

Sock It To Me Cake (Recipe From Scratch)

Super Easy King Cake Recipe

Red Velvet Bundt Cake Recipe

Chocoholic Cake

Fork of vegan sweet potato cake

Vegan Sweet Potato Bundt Cake

Topped with a decadent maple and cashew frosting, this vegan sweet potato cake recipe is rich, moist, and full of fall flavors such as cinnamon, ginger, raisins, and walnuts.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
Course: Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: American
Keyword: cake

Ingredients

  • 1 cup sugar (I used light brown but any sugar works)
  • 1 cup mashed sweet potato puree (cold or room temp)
  • 1 tbsp butter (vegan or dairy)
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1/4 cup apple sauce
  • 1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 2/3 cup raisins
  • 1/3 cup walnuts (crushed)

Maple Cashew Icing

  • 1 cup cashews (soaked in water for 2 hours)
  • 2/3 cup maple syrup
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tbsp cornstarch (optional)

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Using a large mixing bowl beat the sweet potato puree, sugar, butter, water, and applesauce.
    1 cup sugar (I used light brown but any sugar works), 1 cup mashed sweet potato puree (cold or room temp), 1 tbsp butter (vegan or dairy), 1/3 cup water, 1/4 cup apple sauce
  • In a separate medium mixing bowl add the dry ingredients: flour, spices, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Mix well.
    1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp ground ginger, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • Slowly add the dry ingredients to the sweet potato mixture and mix thoroughly.  Combine the crushed walnuts and raisins and mix throughout the batter.
    1/3 cup walnuts (crushed), 2/3 cup raisins
  • Pour the cake batter into a lightly greased fluted tube pan. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 45-50 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
  • To make the cashew maple frosting, drain the soaked cashews and add them to a food processor, blender, or stick blender container. Add the maple syrup and vanilla and blend until smooth. If the frosting is too thick you can add more maple syrup or your favorite milk of choice. 
    1 cup cashews (soaked in water for 2 hours), 2/3 cup maple syrup, 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • *The 1 tablespoon of cornstarch is an option if you want a thicker frosting.  Simply combine the cornstarch to the cashew maple frosting and place in a pan on low heat stirring often to heat but not boil or burn the frosting but to just activate the corn starch for thickening purposes as well as adding volume and consistency.
    1 tbsp cornstarch (optional)
  • Once the cake has cooled and been removed from the pan, place frosting in a container with a pouring spout and pour over the cake top and let it run down the sides. Serve and enjoy!
Tried this recipe?Mention @southernplate or tag #southernplate!

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